An eye-witness of the shooting of
President McKinley is in Salt Lake City in the person of Frederick M. Clark,
a guest of the Walker. Mr. Clark arrived late Thursday night direct from the
Pan-American exposition, and it soon became noised about that he had seen McKinley
shot down. It developed that he had stood within twen[t]y feet of the victim
when the tragedy was enacted.
From that moment Mr. Clark was surrounded by anxious
inquirers eage[r] to learn the details from one who had been on the scene.
“It was a terrible moment,” said Mr. Clark. “Everything
was progressing nicely, despite the enormous crowd present, when suddenly the
shots rang out. Confusion followed and a wild scramble for the president’s side
ensued. Even then, though the very atmosphere was laden with dread fear that
the worst had occurred, it was impossible to believe that the chief executive
had been attacked. The scenes that followed were simply indescribable—the rush,
excitement and public manifestation of horror being beyond compare. When the
true situation was realized it seemed certain that the assassin would be torn
to pieces by the angry mob. That he was not is simply due to the fact that the
crowd was without leaders. I would not say now that he will escape that fate.
It has killed the exposition.”
Mr. Clark is on his way home to Nevada.